Astronomical and Nautical Collections. 405 
more or less prepared by the nature and subjects of their 
previous studies, for undertaking so difficult a task. 
‘ It is not sufficient, in fact, to possess in perfection the ma- 
thematical theory of modern astronomy ; it is also necessary to 
be acquainted with that science such as it was among the 
Egyptians themselves, with all its errors, and in its original 
simplicity. If he is not thoroughly impressed with the idea, 
that the astronomy of Egypt was essentially mixed with its re- 
ligion, and even with that false science, which pretends to read 
in the heavens the future destinies of the world and of its inha- 
bitants ; the bold explorer of the monument of Dendera must 
find himself on dangerous ground ; he is liable to mistake an 
object of worship for an astronomical character, and to consider 
a representation purely symbolical, as the image of a real object, 
and a part of the picture before him. 
“« A second rock, and that on which most of the explanations 
of the Egyptian zodiacs have struck, is the difficulty of dis- 
tinguishing, in these ancient representations, the images which 
are actually intended to represent, either simply or figuratively, 
the celestial figures or signs, from the characters which belong 
solely to the Egyptian system of writing, and which only appear 
on the zodiacs as signs of ideas, with which their forms have 
frequently no relation whatever. 
‘“* This distinction can only be made by means of a long inti- 
macy with Egyptian monuments; and it may be observed, that 
hitherto few antiquarians have been aware of its extreme im- 
portance. Most of them have confounded, under the name of 
Hieroglyphics, both the hieroglyphics properly so called, that is 
to say, the pictural elements of the Egyptian writing, and the 
actual figures of gods, and men, and sacred animals, which are 
always accompanied by inscriptions purely hieroglyphical. We 
have seen some long essays, for example, which have professed 
to contain an explanation of the hieroglyphics, and which have 
not even made mention of a single character truly hiero- 
glyphical. 
“If, then, it should have happened that the considerations 
here stated did not occupy, in the Memoir of M. Biot, quite so 
